What would you do??
 

First of all, I am not going to mention the brand of trailer. Bought a new "06" demo boat and trailer from a dealer. Had a few warranty issues with the boat and they were handled flawlessly. The trailer on the other hand, had some issues. The trailer went from Miami to Washington State and back before I got it. When I got the trailer I noticed the winch stand was bent over to the drivers side and the tires were all wearing wildly (the second row in from the outside and the inside of each tire was worn down lower than the rest of the tire). So, I called the trailer manufacturer and explained the problem, on the same call I asked them how much grease dot he these hubs take? I had never had a spindle trailer w/o the spring type bearing buddy. He told me to grease it until I see grease around the nut. He also told me he would check the winch stand and replace all the tires and check for a alignment problem at no charge.

Two days later, I am traveling to a Poker Run and smoke a hub on the trailer. I get it to a shop two miles from where I pulled over. I had to ride on two tires on that side to get to the shop. In the two miles the weight bulged another tire on that side. The shop pulled all thre tires from that side while they had it in the air and found metal shavings in both of the other bearings. After that, I decide to have them pull the other side, thank god I did, the front bearing was already welded to the spindle and would of smoked pretty soon. the other two on that side also had metal in the bearings. Also all of the bearings were very tight on the spindles and the two that were seized had to be air chiseled off the spindle. The shop noted that it looked like the bearings were driven on. Needless to say, I had all six bearings and hub kits replaced at my expense ( $600.00). I also bought a new tire/rim to replace the bulged one, so i still had a spare to continue my trip.

Well, we made it to the poker run w/o any other problems. I then dropped the boat off at the factory for the warranty work and called the trailer manufacturer to tell him he could pick up the trailer. I was shocked, the owner of the trailer co. changed his whole story. He told me he didn't know the trailer was an "06" and it was out of warranty. I explained to him that I bought the trailer and boat new from a dealer. he said it didn't matter, and blamed the dealer for not calling him about the tires and winch stand. I asked him about the bearing issue that he said he would reimburse me for if i gave him the bill. He now stated that it was "probably" a lack of grease. Since the trailer went from Miami to Wash. and back that someone must not have greased it. I explained to him that the trailer obviously left Miami greased to go to Wash st. and i spoke to the dealer that shipped it back to Florida for me and he even knew what color the grease was and told me to call the transport co. and the driver would verify they greased it while he was hooking up to it. Then I got the boat and trailer and never used the trailer until the day I noticed the tire wear, and the only reason I looked at the tires was to check the air pressure and grease the trailer.
Bottom line is, i consider the trailer "new", I am the first owner of the boat and trailer. The boat still had a "new" warranty. Am I being unreasonable or what. I have owned a myco and an extreme trailer and never had any issues at all. I always grease my bearings and check air pressure before a trip. I feel like the manufacturer is just bailing out.
The manufacturer said he would replace the tires and check the alignment, thats it. The winch stand is literally bent over, he said the dealer never retorqued it. Could the alignment have smoked all the bearings. If its out wouldn't the tires be fighting the trailer going down the road, loading the bearings at weird angles? I just don't want to go through this again down the road. I think I should get reimbursed for the bearing failure. First they said they would and now since the trailer is an "06" they won't i am the first owner though.

What would you do???

Here is a pic of one of the smoked spindles

I would be talking to the dealer where I bought the boat and trailer and demanding they give me a brand new trailer not the piece of sh1t one they said was new! and reimburse you all of the added expence the old trailer cost you. Good luck!!!

Small claims court for the bearing bill and the winch stand if the selling dealer wont stand up for you.

From the picture I would say your bearings ran dry and they probably were not adjusted right to begin with.

If lubed completly and adjusted properly they would not have gone out so fast.

well, that looks like dexter hub with the non removeable inside bearing that is pressed onto the axle during assembly of the hub to axle as 1 unit that can not be removed without breaking the bearing...

i replaced all of my bearings/seals on my MYCO with the air tight / bearing sleeve system so if i ever have a problem i can fix it on side of the road..

someone apparently forgot to pump grease ...

with the air tight system , the "complete" hub is filled with grease bearing to bearing...

???????????????????

Non Removeable?

No such thing. Some may be harder to get off then others but ALL tapered roller bearing cones on the spindle are removable and ALL outer races (cups) can also be removed from the hub. It is always VERY important to replace both the cup and the cone.

Four of the six came off fairly easily. The smoked one was gone and the other one was froze and had to be air chiseled off. The shop noted that it looked as if the bearings were driven on the spindles. It took quite a bit of sanding to get the new bearings on the two that froze up.

That is typical from a bearing that gets VERY hot and fails. They expand and become tight on the spindle and usually have to be cut off. As we say the "Grease Worms" got it. No lubrication means added friction which means added heat which causes heat expansion and failure.

On a new spindle a new bearing is NOT a press fit. It is a slip fit and should go on and off by hand.

hey doc, remember when i went though this ...not roasting but close..

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http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...al+part+number



the outter was no problem , it was the inner that there was no way of pulling off the hub without breaking that inner bearing/seal..

The confusing part is that I checked the air pressure and greased the bearings the night before right after I pulled the boat out. We got 60 miles and smoked the bearing. I guess the damage was already done???

That was my thought exactly. Once you damage a bearing adding grease will not repair it. It is dying a slow death.

It was probably starved for lubrication on one of the cross country trips.

I remember well buddy!

Thought I trained you better? LOL

Hope you are doing well, still thinking about coming to the Carolina's?

Six hundred isn't worth court, the time and aggravation will cost more than that. i just want the trailer fixed correctly. They said they are replacing all of the tires and will "look" at the winch stand, and will also "check" the alignment. "Look" and "check" that is what I am worrying about. I live on the water and very rarely use my trailer, so I will never put enough miles on the trailer to know if it is fixed.
I guess the main question here is, the trailer being an "06" should the trailer manufacturer warranty it as new. I say "yes" I am the first owner regardless of what or where the trailer went.

thumbs better:angry-smiley-044:

yes, i am trying to get that way...problem is homeowners insurance has sky rocketed since the storm and is killing home sales in my area..



nomogofast ,hope you get that problem solved...

I guess that depends on how they represented it to you and sold it to you.

If new with warranty then "YES" they should stand behind it.

I have over 40K miles on a Myco without a bearing failure.

Most boat trailers with proper maintenance should see 20K before you have to replace bearings and seals.

Sorry to hear of your problems, we too have an 06 trailer that came with an 06 36 Concept and I just replaced all tires and added custom wheels. The original tires had 6k on them and were completely worn on the inner edges and somewhat on the outer. I will have the mechanics look at the bearings as all I have done is grease them. I hope you have success in solving your problems. I know it is an ULTIMATE pain in the ars when trailers have issues. CTD

if you are scuffing the inner edges of the tires off, the axles are made wrong. The axle tubes are pre bent so that when loaded, they are straight. If the bend is too little or the bend is not perpendicular to the sping saddle, the toe in and camber on the tires is out of whack.

They are scuffing the 2nd row in and the second row from the outside of each tire. This is happening on all six tires within 6k miles. Sounds like this is a common problem w/ this manufacturer.

Hey Chasin,

I would get the alignment checked on that trailer before you waste six more tires.

Wanna hear the latest!
 

Just got off the phone w/ the trailer co. The owner tells me he finally has my trailer. First of all he hasn't been able to supply me w/ a copy of a his trailer warranty that I have asked for three times. Now, he says my winch stand was bent from abuse by the dealer, the tire wear is normal (all six tires trashed in 6k), the bearing issue is from lack of maintainence, and get this, the brakes are only working on the rear axle, I guess that is abuse too:cool: He now says he is getting the axle manufacturer to look at the trailer and decide what he is going to do. I asked, "for what"? I didn't buy it from the axle manufacturer. According to him the trailer measures out perfectly.:cool: From what I understand now, the axles are sprung upwards when the boat is off the trailer so when the boat is on it the axles are flat to provide perfect tire contact with the road. Am I close to right? I think the axles are install wrong, and so do the trailer people I have talked to and sent the tire pics.

I feel your pain, that really stinks.

Bottom line is that they build a cheap trailer from what you have said so far and it is NOT built heavy enough to do the job.

I got 40K miles out of the tires on my Myco without a single flat and replaced them only because they were five years old. A customer is now running the old tires on his F-250 work truck. They looked great and there was not any uneven wear.

, the axles are sprung upwards when the boat is off the trailer so when the boat is on it the axles are flat to provide perfect tire contact with the road

That does not sound good to me at all?

Good luck I would be demanding my money back.

Apparently the axles come pre bent and filled with rubber? The tubes are bent upwards so when the boat is loaded the axles are then level, I think that is what I am understanding now. I think my axles are installed upside down or not bent enough? Regardless, my boat is now ready at the factory and my trailer just got looked at today. It's been there for a month now:mad:

Just an update, Installed new Goodyear Marathon radials and towed the boat up north for a total of about 500 miles and the tires look good. The trailer seems to tow better also, Hope they hop on your trailer quick for you. I also have problems with the winch stand but I thought it was from when they lift the boat off and on the trailer down south. CTD

I'm just waiting for the trailer people to get back to me. Hopefully they will come to there senses ($$$$$$).

Did you call Don? I would think he could help and is this the trailer company that Concept uses all the time? If it is, I would think they could help or give you a loner to get your boat back in the water.

I left a message Friday for Don to call me. Between the boat manufacturer, Don, Ultimate Trailer and myself, I think we could all give a little and replace the trailer. Mine could be fixed and sold. It might cost 2 or 3 grand to build that trailer, so give me another one and sell my other one which I still have the mso for that I haven't registered after it is fixed. It seems easy but no one thinks this way.

The best thing you can do is throw those bearing buddies away. The grease you pump in there all time never sees the rear bearing. Most bearing failures with bearing buddies are the rear bearing. Hence the reason your inner bearings are welded to the spindle. Buy yourself about 12 extra seals and pull your hubs every couple months or before you take a long trip and physically look at you bearings, pack them and have good piece of mind. Also dexter makes a complete hub kit with beraings and everything you can mount on you spare tire carrier incase you lose bearings you just bolt the new hub on and get back on the road.

I sold a trailer with dexters and now have the bearing buddies.
Bearing buddies suck in comparison, imho. With dexters, you can drive 500 miles, hit them with a few pumps of the grease gun and be assured that the inboard bearing just got a dose.

Excuse my ignorance: Is it possible to switch the whole setup on the new (used) trailer to a dexter set up?

Well you would have to switch the axles themselves over to dexters. Which in my opinion are the best axles on the market right now. Its a real easy swap if you have leaf springs and not tortion axles.

Yes, I have leaf springs...
Hmm, the whole dang thing, eh? I may do it!
The brake assemblies are a universal type of fit? (UFP disc brakes)

Ya they should fit on the dexters. If you give me the measurements I can get you a quote on the axles. Generally get them cheaper than you can from a trailer store. Another thing to look at is how much weight is actually on your axles. I stepped up and put bigger axles under mine just for reliability. I put 3 4500 lb axles under mine but only have 10k on them. That way the axles are never near capacity.

To answer your original question:"What would I do?".

I would have been all over the dealer that represented the trailer was new. THEY should have contacted the trailer manufacturer if they felt the problems were related to defects in workmanship and were warranty items.

The trailer is a spindle trailer and it doesn't have bearing buddies. It just has the zerk fitting and thats it. You grease it until its comes out around the nut.
I just hope between all parties involved that this gets resolved so I can pick my boat up. I don't want to have to get an attorney involved for a $5k trailer.